Viviane Santos de Sousa

PhD - Post-Doctoral Scholar, Biologist

Prinicpal Research Question

I am evaluating the Escherichia coli resistome from community-acquired urinary tract infections in Rio de Janeiro

The main goal of the project is to analyze the set of resistance genes (resistome) and mobile genetic elements (mobilome) by whole genome sequencing of two collections of E. coli isolates belonging to clones with epidemic potential, collected in Rio de Janeiro, within one decade of each other. The isolates were collected in 2005 and 2015 from individuals with community-acquired UTI's.

Secondary projects:

Distribution of pulsed field gel electrophoresis genotypes and detection of genes encoding antimicrobial resistance in Staphylococcus saprophyticus isolates obtained from humans, cheeses and the marine environment of Rio de Janeiro.

Staphylococcus saprophyticus is the second most frequent etiology associated with community-acquired UTI in young and sexually active women. We will characterize genotypes and genes encoding resistance to antimicrobials in S. saprophyticus isolated from pregnant women microbiota, minas cheese (Brazilian white fresh cheese) and the water from five beaches in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In addition, we aim to compare these PFGE genotypes with the uropathogenic genotypes previously published by our group.